Report: TE Gates to keep playing, but not with Chargers

Free agent tight end Antonio Gates intends to return for a 16th NFL season, but it will not be with the Los Angeles Chargers, according to an ESPN report.

Per the report, Gates has been told he will not be re-signed and now plans to play elsewhere.

The Chargers will make 2016 second-round pick Hunter Henry their full-time starter, and the team also signed tight end Virgil Green -- who is primarily a blocker -- away from the rival Denver Broncos during free agency.

Gates, who turns 38 in June, played out the final season of a two-year, $11 million contract in 2017, catching 30 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games (four starts).

A former Kent State basketball player who signed with the Bolts as an undrafted free agent in 2003, Gates has spent all 15 years of his career with the franchise, earning eight Pro Bowl nods and three first-team All-Pro selections.

His 114 career touchdown catches are an all-time record by a tight end (three ahead of Tony Gonzalez) and the most by any active NFL player (four ahead of Larry Fitzgerald). Gates currently ranks fourth among active players in career receptions (927) and receiving yards (11,508), and he would move up to third on both lists if Jason Witten's reported retirement to become a broadcaster proves true.

Henry, 23, has started 23 of 29 games through two NFL seasons, catching 81 passes for 1,057 yards and 12 scores, including eight as a rookie in 2016.

Green, 29, spent his first seven NFL seasons in Denver, playing in 100 games (49 starts) while making 71 catches for 807 yards and four touchdowns.